The shock grounding of all Qantas flights has had minimal impact on the Kimberley. Many stranded passengers found seats on the unaffected Qantas Link flights. But the brief industrial stoppage has highlighted the region's economic dependence on air transport.

The Broome Airport estimates that 270 passengers were affected by the Qantas grounding, and that most of these found seats on the unaffected Qantas Link services. Broome Airport CEO, Nick Belyea, says that most affected passengers were very relaxed and understanding about the inconvenience, 'It's not a bad place to get stranded.'

But the weekend announcement by Qantas that all domestic and international flights would be grounded, resounded across the isolated Kimberley landscape. There are still painful memories in the region of airline turmoil and the economic fallout. The 1989 pilot's strike debilitated Broome's fledgling tourism industry and spelt the end to Lord McAlpine's grand plans for the town. Real estate prices faltered and confidence in the town's economy was shot. Local Ansett manager at the time, Ron 'Sos' Johnston, recalls that the strike bankrupted a lot of people in Broome and throughout the Kimberley. In fact Broome had barely recovered by the time Ansett collapsed in 2001.

Ansett was the major airline in regional WA and Skywest was a wholly owned subsidiary of the doomed airline. Once again the Kimberley's precarious reliance on air transport was highlighted. The State Government stepped in to ensure that Skywest was cut free from Ansett's terminal decline, and sold to new owners to continue its regional service. The impact was not as severe as the pilot strike, but the local economy lost vitality for some years.

The Qantas grounding looks to be short-lived at this stage. Fair Work Australia's decision to terminate industrial action between Qantas and the three unions it's fighting has resulted in all flights out of Broome resuming in less than 48 hours. But the warring parties must reach an agreement in 21 days, so Kimberley businesses will be watching and hoping that air transport won't damage the local economy again.

This latest incident could also feed into the ongoing debate over Broome and the Kimberley's reliance on tourism and the need to diversify the economy into controversial areas such as gas processing and bauxite and uranium mining. Johnston believes that for longterm transport security for the Kimberley, we should be reserving a corridor now for a future railway line. 'The airline industry...is a very expensive industry with very small returns' he says.